Training with legend a kick for martial artists

STOCKTON - From black belts to white, martial artists packed a local dojo Saturday to have a former world kick boxing champion refine their self-defense skills with first-hand training.

Scott Niendorf

STOCKTON - From black belts to white, martial artists packed a local dojo Saturday to have a former world kick boxing champion refine their self-defense skills with first-hand training.

Students from as far away as San Jose and Santa Rosa eagerly took in advice from Bill "Superfoot" Wallace as the martial arts great, who has appeared in numerous films and written books, delivered strategies and encouragement at Flaherty Kenpo Karate dojo.

"I have a bad leg so that's why I'm called 'Superfoot,' not 'Superfeet,' " said Wallace, an effervescent 67-year-old who joked as he engaged more than 20 participants at Saturday's session. "When you get to be my age, you know it hurts - you just can't remember where."

"I'd heard about Wallace and wanted to see him," said Flaherty, who has gone on to become a 10th-degree black belt and was inducted into the U.S.A. Martial Arts Hall of Fame as Grandmaster of the Year in 2004. "After we met, I trained with him and we became friends. I talked with (Wallace) back in April and thought it'd be a great idea to bring him to Stockton. ... I knew our students would be excited and I was excited for them."

Wallace said training and fighting have always been fun for him, and his career certainly seems that way.

After Wallace had won three national martial arts points-fighting titles, he said he drew the attention of Elvis Presley, who came to see him train while Wallace attended Memphis State University.

Wallace said the two became close friends, adding he trained The King and another celebrity, John Belushi, in self defense, also becoming the latter's bodyguard.

Wallace has appeared in numerous films, including "A Force of One" with Chuck Norris and "The Protector" with Jackie Chan, and served as an advisor in "The Power of One" with Morgan Freeman, Stephen Dorff and Daniel Craig.

Saturday, he was back to being an instructor. The session with teens and adults followed a session Friday night teaching younger children.

"I was in Stockton years ago," Wallace said.

"It was good to come back and to see the people here and have some fun. We had a good time kicking people."

Wallace explained the forms martial artists learned from Okinawa and Korea are distinct from a very effective training form he employs - shadow boxing.

"You've heard of Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and a guy famous even before them, Sugar Ray Robinson," Wallace said. "Robinson had a 'bolo' punch to make fighters look at (the distraction). I have a 'bolo' kick. In boxing, everything's a combination. You have the jab, cross, hook and uppercut. The best punch is the last one (in a combination)."

Wallace taught students to set up their best strike against an opponent with feints and jabs designed to open up an opponent's defense.

"You have to sell (the fakes)," Wallace told the students. "When you kill the body, the head will fall off."